With no end to logjam Lok Sabha suspended for another day

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The Lok Sabha on Tuesday saw continued protests and sloganeering by Congress members demanding resignation of three BJP leaders and that a discussion on the Lalit Modi issue should be as an adjournment motion. An exasperated Speaker Sumitra Mahajan termed the unruly scenes as “murder of democracy”.

GST bill becoming Achilles heel for the BJP government

With relentless opposition from the Congress, introducing and passing of the GST bill in the parliament has become a tough mission for the central government. However, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said that the target date for introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is April 1, 2016.

“The Constitutional Amendment to introduce the Goods and Services Tax would create an enabling environment in terms of the legal regime required for introduction of the GST in this country. The target date for introduction of GST is the April 1, 2016,” he told the media here.

He said that the GST has many special features and advantages.

“It creates India into one uniform market which effectively means that one-sixth of the global population, within the country will be one market, which will have a uniform rate of taxation for both goods and services,” he said.

40 MP’s not letting 440 others to work properly: Sumitra Mahajan

Tired of constant disruption in the house, Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan said that around 40-50 Mp’s were not letting 440 others to carry out smooth functioning of the house. The speaker, who said she was “pained” over the scenes in the house, asked Lok Sabha TV to show the protests so that people can see the scenario for themselves.

Members of the Congress and some other opposition parties strongly protested when Arjun Ram Meghwal of the Bharatiya Janata Party sought to begin discussion on “matters arising out of Indian Premier League controversy and other related issues” under rule 193 which does not entail voting.

If our Constitution allows , NDA would perhaps consider a Nation-wide referendum , which reads :
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” Do you support implementation of a nation-wide GST as per Bill introduced in Lok Sabha ?
YES ( ) / NO ( ) ”
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NDA may even allow legitimate Voters to vote on this , using a One-Time Use / Self-Destruct , mobile app called :
GST
I hope that all those who vehemently criticized 3 repeat Ordinances on Land Acquisition Bill , would support such a solution , after watching the helplessness of NDA to pass GST in the last session of Lok Sabha

Because , if they oppose the referendum , voters would know who stands in way of India’s economic progress !

And voters would remember that while voting in all the coming elections – State or Central !

I suspect that a Referendum may not be constitutionally valid – and , therefore , may not have the force of a law

Nor can any Central Government , resort to a series of referendums on ,

> Land Acquisition Bill
> Equal Representation of Women Bill………..etc

Long term – and a permanent solutions to opposition parties stalling the proceedings of Parliament , can be :

# Double the ” Number of Sessions ” and ” No of Days in each Session ”
and ” Working Hours of 9 am to 9 pm ”

# Remove all chairs from the Houses . All business to be conducted while
standing ( Speaker would continue to seat ). This will work wonders !

# Like in most other Parliaments around the World , allow each speaker to
speak for no more than 5 minutes

We may improve upon this by switching off mike after 5 minutes

# Introduce a ” Stay at Home ” Allowance of

> Rs 10,000 / – per each day

of absence , for the Opposition MPs who remain absent during
during ” Stalling / Debating ” session

> Rs 20,000 / – per day

for absenting during ” Voting / Bill Passing ” session

# Any other innovative incentives that will motivate Opposition MPs to
remain absent

One last suggestion :

Even if NDA government shies away from a GST Referendum , I urge TV Media Channels to commission one , on their own
The results would have a sobering effect on all slogan – mongers !
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hemen parekh
15 August 2015